Hiram staples



(No Model.) E. STAPLES. SLAT AND WIRE FENCE MAGHINE.

110.415,17?. -Pate'nted Nov. 12, 1889.

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if@ 2 f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IIIRAM STAPLES, OF EA'ITLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF TW'O-TIIIRDS TO`MADISON BARR, OF SAME PLACE.

SLAT-AND-WIRE-FENCE MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,177, dated November12, 1889.

Application led January 18, 1889. Serial No. 296,693. (No model.)

T @ZZ whom t may concern: proper a.. The plate is slotted as shown, Beit known thaty I, IIIRAM STAPLES, a cit-ithereby permitting of verticaladjustment. zen of the United States, residing at Battle B is an uprightbar carrying handle Z), lreek, in the county of Calhoun and State ofclutch or gripping device O, and mounted Michigan, have invented certainnew and useupon roller or easter CZ. The handle is simply 55 fulImprovements in Slat-and-Vire-Fence a bar projecting from the uprightt'orpermit- Machines; and I do hereby declare the followting aconvenient hold to be obtained upon ing to be a full, clear, and exactdescription said upright. The clutch or gripping device of theinvention, such as will enable others is of peculiar construction, andis shown in io skilled in the art towhich it appertains to detail inFig. It is preferably bolted or 6ov make and use the same. otherwiseattached to the edge of the upright My invention relates to improvementsin B, and consists of the supports c, handle or slat-and-wire-fencemachines of the kind deoperating-lever c', connecting-rod c2, and thescribed in Patent No. 395,853, granted to claw or grip proper c3, andit. is pivoted at c4, Henry Snyder and Matt Barr jointly with c5, c, andc7. Its operation will be described 65 myself, on January 8, 1880.later. The roller attachment consists of a The object of the inventionis to further frame d', bolted to the lower end of upright simplify theconstruction of machines of this B and carrying the. roller proper d. Itis slotclass, so that the same may be more cheaply ted as shown, bymeans of which and the 2o made and more conveniently operated. bolt theupright is capable of being adjusted 7o The invention consists in animproved up and down at will, the object of the adjustmeans for raisingand lowering the twisterment being to compensate for the unevenframe andthe upright bar, improved means ness of the ground over which themachine for adjusting the twister-frame and upright may be operated.

relatively to each other, and an improved L-ironsEEare bolted to thetwister-frame, 75 clutch or gripping device and handle, all as as shown,and pass through recesses in the fully described hereinafter.vertically-adjustable clamps 7L h, where they In the drawings, Figure lis a perspective are secured, thereby firmly uniting the twistview of amachine embodying my improveer-frame and upright. These L-irons may 3oments, with a picket inserted ready to be be themselves slotted; but Iprefer to have 8o twisted into the fence. Fig. 2 is an elevation themmade of a bent iron rod, as herein illusof the twister-frame, showingthe means for trated. adjusting the same vertically; and Fig. 3 is aUpon the L-irons are gages /L' I1'., capable of detail of myimprovedclutch or gripping define adjustment by means of the nut shown,

3 5 vice. for regulating the exact distance between the 85 A is thetwister-frame, mounted upon rollpickets. They also have the projectionsfi', ers a, and it is of the same general construewhich bear against thepickets.

tion as that described in the former patent F is a gage for regulatingthe height of the referred to, e c e being a series of gear-wheelspickets.

4o having two perforations to receive the strands G is a posttemporarily braced in any suit- 9o of wire to be twistethfff a secondseries of able manner, to which are fastened the tengears intermeshingwith the former, and g sion devices K K, of any suitable constructhedouble-handled lever for imparting motion, one being necessary for everywire emtion through a pair of bevelgears to the ployed in making thefence.

wheels e e e. The adjustable roller or caster, In working over hilly oruneven ground it 95 however, is of a somewhat different construcisnecessary to adjust the machine to comtion from that described in theformer patent, pensate for the unevenness. For this purit consisting ofthe plate a, which fits against pose I have devised the rollerattachments a and is bolted to the lower end of the twisterand d, forpermitting vertical adjustment of 5o frame, and to which is connectedthe roller the twister-frame and upright, and the means zoo forpermitting horizontalV as well as Avertical adjustment of the same bymeans of the clamps h Z1, and the slots Z Z in theupright. The verticaladjustment by means ot" the clamps h h and the slots Z Z is only madeuse of when there has been avertical adjustment by means of the rollerattachments. The object of all the vertical adjustments is to keep themachine perpendicular. If, for instance, 1n the course of constructing afence, a hill is met with, the twister-frame would necessarily be higherthan the upright B, and without some means of adjustment the machinewould be at an angle. Inv the present case this is obviated either 'byraising the upright B by means of the adjustable roller CZ or bylowering the twister-frame A by the adj ustable roller a, or bybringing` into operation both these instrumentalities. Now, it isobvious that this cannot be don-e without changing the position .of thepoints of attachment of the L-irons E to the upright. This is done bymeans of the clamps hh moving in the slots Z Z.

The machine embodying my lierein-de scribed improvements is operated asfollows: Starting with the line-wires made fast to a starting-post,passed through the twisterwheels, and made taut in the tension-clamps onthe post G, with the twister-frame and upright fastened together bymeans of the L- irons and clamps at such a distance apart that thegeneral space between the pickets is fixed, and with the gage t'suitably adjusted for regulating the exact distance between theApickets, a picket is inserted between the wires, its height beingregulated by gage F,

and the roections t" t" bearing against the edge of the same. The clutchC is now brought into operation. By a movement to the right of theoperating-lever c the claw c3 passes around the starting-post orapreviously-woven picket and the machine is forced to the right, theprojections 1l forcing the picket the desired distance to the right.When the lever has passed far enoughover, so that the point c6 passeswithin the line between the points c4`and c7, the clutch becomesautomatically locked, and remains so until the lever is withdrawn. Thetwister is now operated and the picket becomes woven into the fence. Theclutch is then loosened, the machine moved to the left by the handle b,another picket inserted, and the operation continued as before. Betweeneach two pickets in the fence the lever g is moved in the oppositedirection, by reason of which 3. In a slat-and-wire-fence machine, thelcombination of a twister-frame and an upright provided with adjustablerollers, the upright being vertically slotted for permitting the boltsof the clamps to work therein, L -irons connecting the twister-frame andupright, and clamps for gripping the L-irons, all combined forpermitting horizontal as well as vertical adjustment of thetwister-frame and upright relatively to one another7 substantially asdescribed.`

4. In a slat-an'd-wire-fence machine, the combination of atwister-frame, an upright, and slotted L-irons firmly but adjustablyconnecting the twister-frame and upright, the L-irons beingprovided'with adjustable gages for regulating the distance betweenpickets, substantially as described.

5. T he combination of a twister-trame and an upright rigidly connectedtogether and a self-locking clutch, substantially as described.

6. The combination of a twister-frame and an upright rigidly connectedtogether, a handle for operating the same, and a self-locking clutch,substantially as described.

7. A self-locking clutch or gripping device of the form described,consisting of the brace c, handle c', connecting-rods c2, and claw c3.

8. In a slat-and-wire-fence machine, the combination of a twister-frameand an upright connected together, the upright being provided with aself-locking clutch or gripping device consisting of the brace c, handlec', connecting-rods c2, and claw c3, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof Iatx my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HIRAM STAPLES. IVitnesses:

NELSON E. HUBBARD, HENRY H. HUBBARD.

IOO

